2018-19 English Premier League Season Preview

The following is a team-by-team preview for the 2018-19 English Premier League season. Each preview covers the side’s prior form and stats, key squad changes, pre-season results, a survey of pundit predictions, futures odds and a summary of positives and negatives heading into this campaign. This article will be updated to incorporate the latest news as we approach the start of the season on August 11 AEST.

New manager Unai Emery is highly experienced, having managed the likes of Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain. He won the Europa League three consecutive times at the helm of Sevilla. Emery favours the 4-2-3-1 formation, as did Arsène Wenger.

Took care of their summer transfers early on and arguably have better squad depth now, particularly defensively.

Had the second best home record in the league last season.

Were the 3rd highest scorers in the league last campaign.

After signing on January 31st, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored 10 goals in 13 league appearances.

Mesut Ozil has retired from the German national team, so he can focus on club football.

Negatives:

New managers always come with uncertainty over how their tenure will pan out, particularly when they’ve never previously managed in England.

The World Cup arguably impacts clubs with new managers the most due to the lack of time they can prepare with certain squad members.

Had a poor 4-4-11 away record last season and only won one away fixture in 2018, which was on the final day.

Arsenal’s 5th placed finish in 2016/17 and 6th placed finish in 2017/18 were their worst results in the Premier League since 1995/96.

With Laurent Koscielny out until November at least, Arsenal look light in the centre-back position.

Start the season with tough fixtures against Man City and Chelsea, which may set their campaign off on the wrong foot.

Have struggled against the top clubs in recent years. Arsenal failed to win a single game as the underdog last season.

Have enjoyed good stability in the managerial position, with Sean Dyche being at the helm since 2012.

With their 7th placed finish last season, Burnley enjoyed their best finish in English football since 1975/76.

Had the 6th best away record in the league last season.

Had the 6th best defensive record in the league last season.

Haven’t lost any key players during the off-season.

Negatives:

Have the distraction of Europa League football this campaign, which will test their squad depth.

Had only the 13th best home record last season.

Scored only 36 goals last campaign, making their offense ranked 15th in the league.

Didn’t sign a player in the transfer window until August 5.

Lack depth at the centre-back position.

There is a chance that last season’s success was a one-off. Burnley could regress much like Leicester City did when they finished 12th the year after winning the Premier League. Many pundits feel that Burnley have defied the odds to achieve what they have done.

There’s a risk that manager Sean Dyche will be lured away to a bigger club.

Forced to make an unplanned signing of goalkeeper Joe Hart following injuries to Nick Pope and Tom Heaton.

The owner will have learned valuable lessons from their unsuccessful 2013/14 stint in the Premier League. The relationship between the owner and the fans is far better this time round.

Have acted early in the transfer window, without spending more than they can afford.

Had the joint best defensive record in the Championship last season.

Have a soft run of fixtures to start the campaign, which will help them to find their feet.

Negatives:

Manager Neil Warnock was unsuccessful in his previous EPL management stints with QPR and Crystal Palace. He has stated that just getting Cardiff City promoted was his biggest ever achievement, which highlights the task he faces this campaign.

Finished dead last in the 2013/14 EPL season and were relegated after just one season in the top flight.

New manager Maurizio Sarri has a lot of credibility following his tenure at Napoli. Across Europe’s top five leagues last season Napoli was ranked 4th in shots per game, 4th in total possession, 2nd in total passes and 4th in fewest saves made by their goalkeeper.

Boast a good crop of developing players, having won the FA Youth Cup for the last five straight years.

Negatives:

Failed to secure a Champions League spot after finishing 5th last season, just one year after winning the title.

New managers always come with uncertainty over how their tenure will pan out, especially when they have never previously managed in England. The World Cup arguably impacts clubs with new managers the most due to the lack of time they can prepare with certain squad members. The World Cup disruption will have hampered their efforts to adapt to the new manager’s “Sarriball”, which involves a change of style and formation from last season. Maurizio Sarri was only appointed in mid-July and has said it will be two to three months before Chelsea reach their potential.

Only scored 62 goals last season, compared to 68 by Man Utd, 74 by Arsenal, 74 by Tottenham, 84 by Liverpool and 106 by Man City.

Have had the distraction of Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante and Willian linked with moves away during the summer.

Have the potential to go deep into the Europa League tournament, which could be a detriment to their league form.

Comfortably beaten 2-0 by Man City in the Community Shield, with the side looking desperately short of pace up front.

Finished 11th last season, despite enduring the worst ever start in Premier League history (0-0-7 with zero goals scored).

Managed to survive relegation last season despite a terrible run with injuries.

Finished last season strongly, going 4-2-0 in their final six games.

Highly experienced manager Roy Hodgson returns for another season. He is from Croydon and started his youth career at Crystal Palace, so he is loyal to the club.

Had the 8th best away record last season.

Have Wilfried Zaha in the squad. They will be strongly boosted if he stays and would receive a huge cash injection if he departs. It looks more than likely he will stay (at least until January) and he has performed well in pre-season.

Managed to sign Max Meyer on a free transfer after he had a falling out with Schalke 04 management. Meyer had previously been linked with Liverpool, Arsenal and AC Milan.

Had the 9th best offensive record last season despite Christian Benteke having an awful campaign, scoring just 3 league goals compared to 15 the year before. If he can rediscover his prior goal scoring form Palace will be in business.

Fellow striker Connor Wickham is back to full fitness after making just 8 league appearances last season.

Negatives:

Manager Roy Hodgson has said “we haven’t been able to strengthen as much as we would have liked and the finances are such that we haven’t really got a lot of money to spend on players. The chairman has made it clear to me that certainly this next season it is all about survival again.”

In 2016/17 (the latest available accounts) Palace had the highest wage-to-turnover ratio in the Premier League at 78.3%. The three nearest clubs to them in that statistic (Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea) have all since been relegated.

Successful loan player Ruben Loftus-Cheek has returned to Chelsea while it appears that Man Utd loan player Timothy Fosu-Mensah prefers to be loaned out elsewhere rather than return to Palace.

Star player Wilfried Zaha has refused to agree to new terms, which has created speculation that he wants to leave the club. Palace went 0-0-9 in his absence last campaign.

Bakary Sako has departed after refusing to sign a new contract.

They seem to be involved in the relegation scrap each season, with a late-season surge making their campaign look more easy than it was.

Have struggled to keep hold of managers, with Hodgeson their 7th manager since being promoted for the 2013/14 season.

Injuries hurt the club’s form last season and the squad is no deeper this season.

New star signing Max Meyer isn’t up to full fitness and will miss the start of the campaign.

New big signing Richarlison has settled in well and is reunited with reunited with his manager from Watford, Marco Silva.

Negatives:

Had only the 13th best away record last season, going 3-6-10 away from Goodison Park.

Conceded 58 goals last campaign, which was only the 14th best defensive record in the league.

Regressed last season despite heavy spending in the off-season.

Have had a high turnover of managers recently. Marco Silva and director of football Marcel Brands are burdened with cleaning up a squad that features some players on inflated wages and other recruitment failures from previous years.

Arguably paid too much for Richarlison.

Lost 3-0 to Blackburn Rovers and 4-1 to Rennes in pre-season.

New manager Marco Silva has not spent more than a year at any of his four previous clubs.

Parted ways with leading goal scorer Wayne Rooney (10 goals) without replacing him, a year after they did the same with Romelu Lukaku (25 goals).

This looks to be a year of transition for Everton rather than a year of progression.

Finished their 2017/18 Championship campaign strongly, going undefeated in 23 of their last 24 games. They only just missed out on automatic qualification.

Have retained up and coming England U21 prospect Ryan Sessegnon who is just 18 years old and scored 15 league goals last season.

Signed Aleksandar Mitrovic on a permanent deal after he scored 12 goals in 17 appearances on loan from Newcastle.

Have been heavily active in the transfer window, with over £100m in new signings. The singings include the very capable centre-back Alfie Mawson and Jean Michael Seri, who topped the Ligue 1 stats for passes played and completed for the past two seasons.

The club is owned by billionaire Shahid Khan, so the club certainly has deep enough pockets to compete in the Premier League.

Negatives:

Had only the 6th best defensive record in the Championship last season.

Had less time to prepare for this EPL campaign than Cardiff City and Wolverhampton, who were directly promoted and avoided the playoffs. Three of the last four teams promoted via the playoffs were relegated after one season.

Full-back Ryan Fredericks passed up on renewing his contract and has moved to West Ham on a free transfer.

Fulham has tended to start slowly under coach Slaviša Jokanović each season as the new players learn how he wants them to play, which could put them under pressure early.

New singing Alfie Mawson underwent knee surgery in May and will miss up to four matches of the new season.

Have been the league’s most aggressive spenders in the transfer market, as highlighted by the signing of Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson for £66.8m to address a key area of need. Naby Keita also looks to be a really exciting addition.

Many of Liverpool’s transfer business was done early, so the new arrivals have had time to get up to speed.

Secured Champions League football for the second consecutive year after failing to achieve this in 3 of the prior 4 seasons.

Have retained the services of Mohamed Salah, who scored a record-breaking 32 league goals in 36 appearances last season.

While Mohamed Salah has received a lot of attention, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino also both scored 20+ goals (in all competitions) last season. The club scored 84 goals last campaign, which was the second most in the league.

Beat Man City 2-1 and Man Utd 4-1 in the pre-season International Champions Cup.

The only team to go undefeated at home last season.

Salah and Firmino have both committed to new five-year contracts.

Negatives:

Were inconsistent at times last season and threw away points against the likes of Swansea and West Brom.

There may be repercussions for Mohamed Salah playing in the World Cup despite not being fully fit. It will be hard for him to replicate the stellar season he had last year.

Their 2nd place finish last season was United’s best finish since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2014. They had finished 7th, 4th, 5th and 6th leading up to last year.

Only conceded 28 goals last campaign, just one more than City, who had the league’s best defence.

Boast plenty of individual talent within the squad.

Paul Pogba rediscovered some of his best form during the World Cup.

Have a world-class goalkeeper in David De Gea, who based on Opta’s Expected Goals metric, prevented more goals than any other keeper last season.

Negatives:

Manager Jose Mourinho has appeared unhappy this summer due to the lack of signings. There are rumoured tensions between him and the club’s executive management. It appears he is on schedule for his customary 3rd-season implosion.

It is rumoured that Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic turned down a big money move to United because he doesn’t want to work with Mourinho.

There isn’t a positive air about the club in the build up to this season and the fans weren’t happy with the dull brand of football they played last campaign.

Look in need of strengthening in the centre-back position and they have two ageing full-backs. Goalkeeper David de Gea’s sensational form last season glossed over their defensive problems.

Strengthened during the January transfer window with Martin Dubravka and Kenedy arriving on loan. Newcastle then improved in the second half of the season. Dubravka was signed permanently in May and Kenedy is back again on loan, with the deal including an option to buy.

Have a strong manager in Rafa Benitez who manages to make the squad more than the sum of its parts. Despite his frustrations this summer, most expect Benitez to stay rather than quit, because his contract stipulates that he must pay owner Mike Ashley £6m if he were to leave.

Had the 7th best defensive record last season.

Negatives:

Owner Mike Ashley has a reputation for being tight with funds. Despite ever-escalating transfer fees, Newcastle have not broken their transfer record in 13 years. Manager Rafa Benitez has been frustrated this off-season by the club’s inability to bring in more signings. After losing 4-0 to Braga, Benitez said “Things are not going well off the pitch.” When asked what, he replied: “Everything. I’m worried. Fans are concerned – that have to be. We are concerned.” Benitez has remarked that they need three or four more signings.

The squad looks thin, so injuries will hurt them more than most clubs.

Faded towards the very end of last season, losing four of their final five games.

Look short in the centre-back position, with Florian Lejeune out for most of the season with an ACL injury.

Have a number of niggly distractions: an unresolved dispute over bonus payments means the squad are currently refusing media commitments, while the Under-23 coach has been suspended since January while the club conducts an investigation into bullying and racism claims.

Have tough schedule to start the campaign, which includes fixtures against Tottenham, Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal in the opening five rounds. This will put a huge amount of pressure on their away fixture against Cardiff in Round 2.

The pragmatic Mark Hughes remains at the helm after he steered the side towards safety after being appointed in March.

Have strengthened and refreshed the squad in the transfer window.

Negatives:

Only just avoided relegation last season.

Went 4-7-8 at St Mary’s Stadium last campaign, which was the second worst home record in the league. Huddersfield won six home games and no other team that survived relegation won fewer than seven home games.

Leading goal scorer and assist provider Dušan Tadić has left the side.

Have been consistent, finishing no worse than 6th in each of the last nine seasons.

The only team to have finished in the top 3 in each of the last three seasons.

Striker Harry Kane has been consistently prolific, scoring 21, 25, 29 and 30 league goals over the last four seasons.

Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and manager Mauricio Pochettino committed to new contracts during the off-season.

With the same squad as last season, Tottenham should hit the ground running while the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea adjust to life under new management.

Went 10-4-5 away from home last season, which was the joint second best record in the league.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino is popular with the players.

January signing Lucas Moura was excellent in pre-season.

Negatives:

No incoming transfers completed.

Will be switching home stadiums during the season.

The new stadium costs have ballooned well beyond initial estimates, which has impacted Tottenham’s spending power.

Harry Kane looked short of fitness in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the World Cup. Kane is one of nine Tottenham players who featured in the World Cup semi-finals and have missed much of pre-season as a result. Most of them didn’t return to training until Monday, so their match fitness for the start of the season is a big query.

Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose and Moussa Dembele have been linked with transfers away from the club.

Heung Min Son will miss the start of the season to play in the Asian Games for South Korea.

Dominated the Championship last season with a 99-point haul. Wolverhampton had the best home record and the best away record. They scored the most goals and conceded the fewest goals.

Given the financial resources available to the club and their connections with super-agent Jorge Mendes, Wolves are heavily predicted to avoid the relegation scrap and finish the highest of the newly promoted teams. Many pundits are predicting a top half finish.

Have been proactive in this summer’s transfer market, which is in addition to their busy activities last season.

Since 2002, 69% of the teams that were promoted as the Championship winners survived relegation in their first EPL season.

Led the Championship for goals scored on the counter-attack last season, which is a good trait to have when playing bigger clubs.